CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hi! I brought someone here!
Sirius: *snarling* Who sighted me?
Me: Celia, but she thinks it was just an illusion.
Sirius: Good girl. Nicoisawesome does not own.
Me: Thank you. Didn't get many reviews...weird. Did everyone go on a vaycay? Now, onwards! Snape has a lot to process in the future!
Sirius: *scowling* What has that git got to do with anything?
Me: Absolutely everything. Depends on which person you're referring to.
Sirius: Hmf. Wait, what-
Me: Let's just get started!*begins*
Celia's POV
It was Halloween soon, and as I ate my food from the Slytherin table, Draco and the rest of the table got up and went outside. I swung my feet over the chair and plopped myself on the Gryffindor table.
Harry poked his jello glumly as the dining room began to empty. I smiled as Dad led the Slytherins out. Only the professors that weren't Head of Houses stayed.
I snuck a look at Harry, expecting to see the side of his face. Instead I saw his clear green eyes, staring at me.
We both blushed at the same time when we realized we were staring at each other.
"Sorry," We muttered at the same time, looking away. I could feel my cheeks heating up.
"Um…quidditch?" Harry quickly changed the topic. I smiled, grateful. "Are we allowed to go outside?"
Harry shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, the Headmaster's right there." I got up and dragged Harry over. He wouldn't go up the stage.
"You go ahead." He planted his feet on the ground. I threw my hands up in the air and made my way upstairs.
The teachers seemed ready for my question, which made me a little suspicious. "Um…are we allowed to go outside?" I asked.
Headmaster smiled gently. "Of course." Then, curious, he asked," May I ask what you will be doing?"
I beamed. "Thanks. Oh…(I blushed-why?)Harry's going to teach me how to ride a broom and play quidditch."
The professors shared an amused look. Lupin smiled pleasantly, a spark in his eyes.
I nodded at them then turned to go…crashing right into Harry. I didn't know he was behind me, and really close, too, so when I bumped into him, our noses grazed…and…alright, I'll admit it. Our lips kind of grazed against each other's too. But it was a total accident, I swear.
He tripped and fell on me, and we both landed in a heap on the floor. He fell on top of me, and I was glad he was so scrawny, because he LITERALLY fell on me.
He got up as soon as he could, turning pink and apologizing.
"Bloody hell, I'm so sorry, sorry, sorry-"Harry helped me up, grinning sheepishly, but also looking worried.
"Stop apologizing, I'm fine." I grumbled, glancing at the professor's table. Some of them were pretending nothing had happened, some of them-like Lupin and Headmaster-were laughing outright.
As we went down the stairs, I looked at Harry. "Nice. You didn't want to go up, but then when I finally let you stay down, you go up!?"
He smiled sheepishly again and shrugged.
"Oh! Come on!" I jumped once and took off up the stairs. Harry was right behind me. I guess he runs fast.
Yanking open the door, I slipped inside, and walked into the office. Harry didn't budge. "This…is Professor Snape's office. I don't think he-" he squeaked.
I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time and pulled him in. "Technically it's mine, too." I crossed the room to go to my room. It was a lighter purple now, since I had changed it again.
"Colorful." Harry remarked as he stood awkwardly to one side. "You can sit, you know. That's what the bed is for." I told him. Gaping stupidly, he sat.
"I'm going to fly…I can't believe it! Is it fun? I've always wanted to fly! How does it work? Is the broom on some levitation charm?" I fired question after question at him, with him trying to answer.
"It's actually pretty-"
"Is it hard?"
"Well, you-"
"How do you do it?"
"Er, well-"
"How high does it go?" I was so excited, I didn't process that he wasn't answering the questions fully.
"CELIA!" Harry yelled. I stopped. "We're getting nowhere with this. Why don't I just show you?"
"Okay!" I bounded off the bed and waited for Harry to get off. He slowly got off and told me to wait for him under the tree-he knew I understood-while he got his Firebolt. We would meet up with each other in two hours.
I waited for two hours, then dashed out the door and into the exit. The tree he was talking about was really the one I had been crying under a few days before. Embarrassing.
A small figure in the distance emerged, holding a broom. Harry came into view, and I gasped as he proudly held his Nimbus( AN: This chapter is right before 'Grim Defeat'). With one free hand, he held up his arm like a gentleman.
I took it, and my mind had a sudden confused image of a cross between a man in a tuxedo and an athlete.
He…um…escorted me…to the field, and turned around, already excited. "Okay, so in Quidditch I guess it's sort of like football, that's a Muggle game, you knew that, I think you did, and there's different positions like Chasers, Beaters, Keepers, Seekers-that's me, and you have to get the Bludger through the hoop, by teamwork, until the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch, and then we-I mean a team, wins, got it? Let's play!" He said this all very fast, then mounted on his broom and took off.
A while later he came back down, and frowned. "Where's your broom?" Cocking his head like that made him look incredibly clueless and cu-wait, what? I shook my head and told myself to snap out of it.
"I don't have one. Haven't you noticed?" I replied. "Someone's being observant." I remarked dryly as an afterthought.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Of course I did." He coughed. I raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh."
He smiled and gave me his broom. "It's okay, you can use mine. Say 'up!'"
I stared at him. Say "up"? To a broom? Okay…I shrugged and firmly stared at the broom. "Up!" The broom swung up to smack my face.
Instinctively, I cover my face with my arms and shout, "Stop!" The broom froze, and settled itself, hovering, at thigh-length.
Harry's eyes widened. "I didn't know that…how did you…" Then he shook himself, quite literally, and grinned at me. "That was bloody brilliant! Okay, now just hold on!"
As fast as lightning-ironic, considering his scar, but I didn't want to think about that-, Harry mounted the broom. I followed, and he pulled me to the front. "You're shorter." He muttered.
"I am not! Wait. What are you-no! Wait! Harry!" I yelped as he kicked off, tumbling back. He caught me with his two arms, palms still on the sleek broom handle.
"That's why I wanted you in the front!" He yelled, the wind rippling through the air, howling. My knuckles were white as my hands clenched the handle tightly. Then I looked down.
Before you go into that "girl-hates-heights-and-faints-blah-blah" stuff, I'm not afraid of heights. Sorry to ruin the moment.
I gasped at the height, and grinned in delight. "How do you steer this thing? Go faster!" I called. I felt Harry's shoulders go up and down. Shrug.
"You just do!" Alright, he wanted to play like that. I closed my eyes and tried to gain control of the broom. Imaginary tendrils wrapped around the handle from my mind, and with a yank, it slipped out of Harry's grip.
"Celia-?!" Harry gasped sharply, and I whooped, making the broom tilt forward in a steep dip.
He stumbled into me, holding on. I smiled and said over my shoulder, "That's why I wanted you in the back!" I could tell he was rolling his eyes, but smiling, nevertheless.
We were still dipping. "Um…good time to pull up now!" I grinned at Harry's stricken tone and yanked up. "Hold on!" I yelled.
I could feel him tense as the broom went into a 360 loop. We circled the field a few more times before Harry managed to take control again.
We wrestled for control for a while, then Harry suddenly pulled it out of my grasp. He let out a yell of triumph, black hair rippling wildly.
I laughed and tried to take back the gleeful control I had used before, but Harry's grip was too strong. We zoomed past the field and past windows. Dips and sharp curves caused me to stay alert, and the wind gave out a loud howl.
I don't remember ever feeling so alive before, and happy, and excited to be with somebody. We glided into a landing, then dismounted.
The Boy Who Lived. Green Eyes. Black messy Hair. That was how others saw him. I took in some other features. Lopsided smile. The one dimple that appeared on his right cheek when he threw back his head and laughed. He had a weird laugh, I noted. It was like a cross between a manly chuckle and a fit of girl giggles. I tried to imagine him without his scar; just a regular wizard.
I closed my eyes and took in the sweet, dewy aroma of the grass-scented air. Fresh air. How long had it been that I hadn't smelled a smell invaded by smoke and garbage bags? The sizzling of bacon against the pan, burning the fat into a crisp? The sound of my mother's screams?
When I opened my eyes, they were added by a new thing: wet tears. I blinked them back.
Harry took in my face and instantly sat down. I propped myself on the floor and wiped my eyes.
"Um…did I do something wrong?" Harry looked terribly confused, frantic, and worried at the same time.
I choked out a laugh that just had to get out. "No! It's-oh, bloody hell, this is so stupid-I'm just really, really happy, Harry. Thank you."
He took my hand and squeezed. It didn't mean anything; just a friend comforting a friend.
Harry broke the silence. "I don't mean to pry, but was I, like, your first friend?" I repeated the sentence in my mind.
"YES! I'm rubbing off on you! You said 'like'! But, sorry, Harry. Hermione beat you to it." I giggled.
He huffed and rocked back and forth, giving my hand another squeeze. I squeezed back. "When has Hermione ever not beaten me?"
I laughed. " Aren't you the quidditch star?" I nudged him. He smiled. "Okay, that I can be proud of. But still, if i didn't have Hermione to copy off of, I would be kicked out of the team."
"What goes around comes around….?"
"Yeah, to Hermione." Harry, failing, tried blow bangs out of his face.
I stood. "We should get back. Let's go to my room and talk. Dad shouldn't be back yet."
We walked back to my room, and sat there, sometimes talking, and sometimes lapsing into comfortable silence.
"-and Fred would've pranked you already if you weren't that sneaky yourself!" Harry exclaimed. He had settled in on my bed, and we were both sitting criss-cross-applesauce-whatever, facing each other.
I grinned. "One day I'm going to prank them so good they'll go crying to their mommy!"
"Good luck with that." (AN: I remember reading this type of stuff and thinking, 'kiss her kiss her')
The door knocked. I yelped and ran to the front door, opening it. Ron and Hermione stood there, red-cheeked from the cold.
"Searching…outside…you were…here? Thought…quidditch…field!" Ron panted. He still had his scarf on. I opened the door wider. "Come on in."
They entered after some coaxing- "This is my room as well as my dad's!"- and entered my room, where Harry was sitting, holding the Nimbus tensely.
"Oh. I thought it was Snape!" He let out a breath.
They were holding bags, and Hermione fished out one for me. "Hermione! You shouldn't have!" Inside were packs of chocolate and candy.
Ron chewed something in his mouth. " 'arry's 'e can 'ive in 'e 'ommon 'oom!" He explained. Harry's we can give in the common room!
Harry nodded like he understood. I set the bag on my drawer and we had a heated conversation. Well, Harry and Ron did. Hermione and I just listened in on bits of whispers.
"Cecelia Snape!" An angry, stern, sleek voice said sharply behind me. I whirled around, staring right into the eyes of-
"Oh. Hi, Dad." I forced the tiny lump of fear in my throat down. Oh gods.
